Recent government report indicate that a whopping sum of N1.4trillion is currently being spent annually by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation as subsidy on premium motor spirit otherwise known as petrol. Yet, there is no budgetary provision for subsidy in the 2018 budget, neither has there been subsidy for petrol in the country’s budget for the past three years.
To make matters worse, the Federal Government is not bothered that NNPC is illegally running subsidy on petrol, neither is anybody calling the government to order over the illegal subsidy issue. NNPC had indicated early in the year that the 35 million daily consumption of petrol in the country was swelling up and was expected to reach about 60 million litres per day.
The huge rise in the daily consumption of petrol in the country is another sad commentary on how Nigerians take advantage of government policies to cheat the country. Even with the anti-corruption posture of the Muhammadu Buhari administration, it is unbelievable how unscrupulous Nigerians collude with government officials to cheat the nation at will.
Experts posit that daily local consumption of 60 million litres of petrol is not possible for Nigeria’s current population and potential petrol users. The figure is therefore over bloated. Besides, the sudden rise in petrol consumption from about 35 million litres per day to 60 million litres per day is questionable, unbelievable and calls to question the basis for such a huge rise in consumption of petrol. If anything, it gives credence to speculations that petrol meant for consumption in Nigeria is being smuggled outside the country for consumption in the neighbouring ECOWAS countries such as Benin Republic, Togo, Niger, Chad and Cameroon Republic.
There is a huge, attractive and sumptuous price differential between the price of petrol in the open Nigerian market and the price of petrol in the neighbouring countries. It is this wide margin between the local selling price of petrol in Nigeria and the high price in the immediate ECOWAS countries that fuels the smuggling of petrol to those countries.
There is therefore an urgent need for an official investigation into how and why heavily subsidised petrol imported for use in Nigeria are smuggled or allowed to be illegally taken out of the country to neighbouring ECOWAS countries.
It amounts to economic sabotage for anybody or group of people to allow imported petrol or any essential item imported to Nigeria to be allowed to be smuggled out of the country to other ECOWAS countries, especially at a time like this when Nigeria’s economy is struggling to survive.
In fact, those responsible for the smuggling or diversion of petrol from Nigeria to other neighbouring ECOWAS countries must be fished out, arrested and severely punished for making themselves economic saboteurs.
Since the product was diverted or smuggled through the country’s borders, it means that the Customs Service officials must identify the pattern of the illicit trade in petrol between Nigeria and the neighbouring ECOWAS countries. Heads must then roll in the Customs Service as those responsible for the dastardly act must be heavily penalised.
It is equally sad and disrespectful to policy that the country is subsidising importation of petrol when no subsidy on petrol is the official policy of the Federal Government. To make matters worse, the NNPC currently withdraws the subsidy on petrol, among others, from the aggregate revenue from crude oil sales, thus short-changing the monthly statutory allocation for the three tiers o government.
A situation where petrol consumption keeps going up unsustainably as if it has no end is not good for the country’s records and for the true state of petrol consumption in the country. It calls for concern among Nigerians and within the government. Therefore, there is a need to properly ascertain the true consumption of petrol by Nigerians.
Experts indicate that there are between 20,000 and 25,000 petrol retail points in Nigeria; yet, the NNPC does not have a database for managing them. This, among others, explains why NNPC does not have the accurate figure of petrol consumption per day in the country.
Going forward, there is an urgent need by the Federal Government to increase the pump price of petrol in the country. The price of petrol in Nigeria must be at par with the price being paid in the neighbouring ECOWAS countries so as to stop the current wave of smuggling Nigerian petrol outside the country. If petrol is being sold at the same price in Nigeria and its neighbouring countries, it will no longer be profitable for anybody to smuggle petrol out the country.
